Article and method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is provided in the form of a hollow tubular needle through which one or more strands of material can be fed to compress the extremities thereof.

Unite States Patent 1 91 Boultinghouse 14 1 Oct. 1, 1974 ARTICLE ANDMETHOD OF MANUFACTURE [75] Inventor: Harold D. Boultinghouse,

Bartlesville, Okla.

[73] Assignee: Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville [22] Filed:Sept. 1, 1972 [21] App]. N0.: 285,956

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 43,638, April 29,1970, Pat. No. 3,709,771, which is a division of Ser. No. 598,682, Dec.2, 1966, Pat. N0. 3,580,761.

[52] US. Cl. 156/435, 56/436 [51] Int. Cl D04h 11/08 [58] Field ofSearch 156/72, 306, 435; 156/436;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,636,460 4/1953 Seiderman161/67 2,639,250 5/1953 Reinhardt 3,145,446 8/ 1 964 Sussman 3,266,9698/1966 Makansi 3,398,949 8/1968 Young 3,679,114 7/1972 Ostertag 226/97FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,047,382 11/1966 Great Britain 156/72Primary ExaminerDaniel .I. Fritsch 5 7 ABSTRACT An apparatus is providedin the form of a hollow tubular needle through which one or more strandsof material can be fed to compress the extremities thereof.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ARTICLE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE This is adivisional application of my copending application having Ser. No.43,638, filed on Apr. 29, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,771 which is adivisional application of Ser. No. 598,682, filed Dec. 2, I966, now US.Pat. No. 3,580,761.

This invention relates to nonwoven articles. In one aspect one or morestrands of fusible material are compressed at one extremity and fused toa receptive base. In another aspect tufts of meltable material arephysically bonded to a compatible, fusible base by compressing one ormore strands of meltable material at one extremity and fusing thatextremity to the compatible base. In another aspect one or more strandsof heat fusible material are fed through a hollow tubular needle tocompress the extremities thereof. In another aspect tufts of heatfusible material are physically bonded to a substrate having a roughenedsurface or open surface porosity by compressing one end thereof andfusing it to said substrate.

Natural and synthetic elastomeric materials have found application inthe production of nonwoven composite sheets, webs, and decorativearticles. I have now found a new method for producing such products froma variety of fusible materials.

It is therefore one object of this invention to produce nonwovencomposite articles. It is another object of this invention to producetuft composite sheet material. It is yet another object of thisinvention to provide a simplified method of fusing meltable material todesired backing. It is another object of this invention to provideapparatus for fusing meltable materials to receptive base stock.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, meltable materialis fused to a receptive backing by compressing one or more strands ofsuch material at one extremity and contacting a base material with thecompressed melted extremity or extremities of the one or more strandsand allowing the extremities to become attached to the base material.Once the extremity of the strand or strands has become physicallyattached to the base material, it can be cut into the desired lengthtojproduce either a pile fabric or decorative article as desired.

Essentially any fusible strand material can be employed within theconcept of this invention. For example, natural or synthetic fusibleelastomers or thermoplastics can be employed. Crystalline polymers of 1-olefins, particularly polypropylene and polyethylene are very acceptablein this application.

The base material can be essentially any composition structure or designto which the meltable strands can be fused. Although laminar webs orbackings probably find greater application than do other structuralconfigurations, although essentially any structure, e.g., threedimensional form, can be used. It is only necessary that the substrateor backing material be either capable of fusing with the strandcomposition or that its surface be porous or roughened so that aphysical or structural bond can be formed between the fused strandextremities and the backing surface. Suitable backing materials tureshaving surface porosity, such as foams, granular aggregates, etc.

The concept of this invention can be best understood by reference to thedrawings, which are intended only to be illustrative of one embodimentof this invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a presently preferredtuft-forming needle; FIG. 2 illustrates a crosssectional view of asimilar tuft-forming needle having the facility for accommodating amultiplicity of strands or strand composites; FIG. 3 illustrates thetubular needle of FIG. 1 in addition to the loose and compressed strand;FIG. 4 illustrates a combination apparatus for producing a pile fabric;and FIG. 5 illustrates another view of the apparatus of FIG. 4.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is provided a hollow tubular needle 1,internal passage 34, restrictedopening at one extremity 2, a secondopening or inlet 3 and axial extension 6. The restricted opening 2 ispreferably of a diameter substantially less than the internal diameterof internal passage 34 which is in turn preferably smaller than inletpassage 3. Inlet opening 3 can also be provided with suitable beveledguide means 4 for facilitating the entrance of one or more strands ofmaterial as hereinafter detailed.

It should be pointed out that throughout the disclosure and claims ofthis application that the strand material employed in this invention isintended to include all cross-sectional shapes of indefinite lengthmaterial that can be manipulated in the manner described. Such materialsare, for example, filaments, fibers, ribbons, fibrillated orunfibrillated oriented filaments, fibers, ribbons, or rods. All of thesematerials can be either foamed or unfoamed, although largercross-sectional areas of foamed products can, of course, be employed.For example, either single or multiple foamed rods or heavy filamentscan be passed through the needle of FIG. 1 with the only limitationbeing that they are capable of sufficient compression to allow theirpassage through the restricted passage or exit to illustrate it inFIG. 1. To compensate for the use of such heavy materials or heavyloading in normal applications, the lower extremity of hollow needle 1can be made flexible through the provision of several longitudinal slits5 to allow expansion of restricted passage 2 when necessary.

The hollow needle can also be provided with two or more openings 8 and9, as illustrated in FIG. 2. This modification enables the use of two ormore strands or combinations of strands of materials simultaneously toform tufts comprising combinations of dissimilar materials.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 the strands, ribbons, etc., or combinationsthereof 33 enter inlet opening 3 in the hollow tubular needle 1 'arecompressed together in the restricted extremity of the needle andemanate from restricted opening 2 in the form of a compressed bundle 32.

In operation the compressed bundle 32 projecting slightly beyondrestricted extremity 2 is melted and forced into intimate contact withthe desired backing material by forcing needle I against the backing.The melted strands forming the compressed bundle are thus weldedtogether and the additional melted material is caused to disperseintimately over the surface of the desired backing or throughout theporosity thereof depending, of course, on the structure of the backingmaterial.

One form of apparatus suitable for producing tuft material within theconcept of this invention is illustrated schematically in FIGS. 4 and 5.The desired backing material can be removed from roll 26 and passedthrough a suitable series of rolls 35, 36, and 28 to control theintermittent motion thereof. Sprigging arm 18 housing a multiplicity ofhollow needles 20 is pivotably mounted by flange 21 on base 38. Thedesired strands of meltable material 17 are passed to needles 211 fromstorage 16. The compressed bundle 32 in FIG. 3 is melted and broughtinto intimate contact with backing 25 by forcing needles 20 against thebacking through the action of sprigging arm 18. After the meltedmaterial has at least partially solidified to backing 25 in order toprovide a sufficient bond therewith, the sprigging arm 18 is raisedthereby pulling strands 17 through the needles 20. The sprigging arm israised to a predetermined elevation at which time mobile cutting edge 31actuated by lever 22 and suitable operating means, such as air cylinder27, is forced against stationary cutting blade 19 to sever the bondedtufts in predetermined lengths and at the same time, leaving the desiredlength of compressed bundle 32 projecting slightly beyond the restrictedextremities 2 of each neetile. The sprigging arm 18 is then raised tothe position illustrated in FIG. 5 and the projecting bundles 32 arecontacted with heating element to effect the melting thereof. Heatingelement 30 can be essentially any heating means capable of transferringsufficient heat to the projecting bundles to melt the same. For example,the heating element can be a resistive heater or simply a melt blockwhich is heated by other means, such as an oven in its retractedposition. The heating element, mounted on swinging arm 29, is thenretracted and the cycle is repeated by again forcing needles 20 againstbacking material 25 through the action of sprigging arm 18.

During the above-described operations, backing material 25 is shifted,preferably intermittently, to remove the tuft material from the area ofcontact and to expose fresh backing.

Various color combinations and/or patterns can be produced by feedingstrands of different color or composition to the several needles 20.Several sprigging arms 18 can be provided, each housing one or more ofthe needles 20 to provide the additional facility of intermittentlyspacing tufts either longitudinally or laterally, as desired, to producepatterns of varying configuration.

EXAMPLE A fibrous yarn comprising a multiplicity of polypropylene fiberswere passed through a single bore needle of stainless steel having aninside diameter of A inch and a reduced diameter at the restrictedextremity of 3/16 inch. Vs inch of the thus compressed bundle offilaments protruding from the restricted extremity was melted by usingan open flame torch after which this material, in the melted state, wasforced against and welded to a backing comprising melt spunpolypropylene fiber coated with radial teleblock copolymer. After themelted material had solidified, the needle was withdrawn from thebacking thereby pulling additional yarn through the needle which was cutto produce tufts 1% inches long and to leave about inch of compressedfibers extending from the restricted extremity of the needle. Thisoperation was repeated to position tufts of bonded material on A inchcenter spacing to produce an extremely rugged carpet-like material.Similar articles were produced using ribbons and fiber strands offibrillated and unfibrillated polypropylene and polyethylene bonded toperforated cardboard and partially fibrillated polypropylene films.

Numerous variations and modifications of the con cept of this inventionwill be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the foregoingdisclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims to this invention, theessence of which is that one or more strands of meltable material arecompressed together at one extremity, melted and forced into intimatecontact with a receptive base or backing to form a source bondtherebetween.

1 claim:

1. An apparatus comprising at least one hollow, tubular member having aninternal passage in communication with a restricted opening at one axialextremity of said tubular member, at least one inlet opening in saidmember removed from said extremity in communication with said internalpassage, the cross-sectional area of said inlet opening beingsubstantially greater than the cross-sectional area of said tubularpassage and the internal cross-sectional area of said restricted passagebeing substantially smaller than the internal crosssectional area ofsaid internal passage, said tubular member being fixedly mounted onpivotably mounted supporting means, conveyor means for conveying laminarmaterial, means for pivotably reciprocating said support means aboutsaid axis and contacting the restricted extremity of said tubular memberwith one surface of said laminar material, means for passing at leastone strand of material into said inlet opening of said tubular memberthrough said internal passage and through said restricted passage,cutting means for severing said strand passed through said tubularmember slightly beyond said extremity thereof to retain a portion ofsaid strand projecting beyond said extremity, and means for lieafingsaidprojecting strand portion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tubular member has a pluralityof said inlet openings for pass- I ing strands into said internalpassage, there being at

1. An apparatus comprising at least one hollow, tubular member having aninternal passage in communication with a restricted opening at one axialextremity of said tubular membEr, at least one inlet opening in saidmember removed from said extremity in communication with said internalpassage, the cross-sectional area of said inlet opening beingsubstantially greater than the cross-sectional area of said tubularpassage and the internal cross-sectional area of said restricted passagebeing substantially smaller than the internal cross-sectional area ofsaid internal passage, said tubular member being fixedly mounted onpivotably mounted supporting means, conveyor means for conveying laminarmaterial, means for pivotably reciprocating said support means aboutsaid axis and contacting the restricted extremity of said tubular memberwith one surface of said laminar material, means for passing at leastone strand of material into said inlet opening of said tubular memberthrough said internal passage and through said restricted passage,cutting means for severing said strand passed through said tubularmember slightly beyond said extremity thereof to retain a portion ofsaid strand projecting beyond siad extremity, and means for heating saidprojecting strand portion.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidtubular member has a plurality of said inlet openings for passingstrands into said internal passage, there being at least one strand foreach of said inlet openings.